Cinderella: 39 Clues Style
by MeBeKiki
Summary: Amy, a solemn maiden who has to obey to her stepmother's and stepbrother's every whim, seizes an opportunity to go to a ball that she had been "falsely" invited to. Being the eye of a handsome prince however, she gets more than she bargained for. Ian/Amy
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: **Amy, a solemn maiden who has to obey to her stepmother's and stepbrother's every whim, seizes an opportunity to go to a ball that she had been "falsely" invited to. Being the eye of a handsome prince however, she gets more than she bargained for.

**Rating: **"K+"

**Setting: **AU, but still in Boston.

**Warning: **Cliché pairings, cliché storyline. 'Nuff said.

**Pairing: **Ian x Amy , Dan x Natalie

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the 39 Clues. Or Cinderella.

**XXX**

"Mother, please wait up!" Amy sighed, trying her hardest to balance the bags filled with food in her hands, along with her stepmother's purses. This was why she loathed Wednesdays, which was usually the day they ran errands, mainly because of all the new produce there was outside. The city was usually crammed with people digging into their purses and wallets, trying to get out all their cash. There weren't that many people here in the market today however, which turned out to be a _bad _thing. Her stepmother, Beatrice, decided to take advantage of the lack of customers to buy twice as much groceries than they usually did. Amy had been summoning the courage to tell her she disliked this, but it would be better to keep her mouth shut.

_If I don't say anything about our groceries, maybe stepmother won't make me do my weekly errands to the market on early Sundays…_

"Hurry up, Amy! I'm starving, I want you to use some of those vegetables to make me my favorite stew." Beatrice looked back at her, glaring. "And I won't wait, like I said before, _I'm starving!_" She turned back around, walking even faster.

Amy sighed, trying her best to pick up the pace. But being the klutz she was, she ultimately failed and fell on her rear. Dan, her brother, turned around and laughed at her, pointing. "Oh stepmother, look at Amy!" He pretended to wipe tears off his face, and soon Beatrice too was laughing, holding onto her chest for support.

"Oh Dan, that's hilarious…" She patted him on the head, "keep on walking boy." Dan nodded, smirking at Amy before continuing on home. Beatrice's smile disappeared as soon as he was out of earshot and she pulled Amy up, harshly I might add. "Listen, I don't need you acting like a clown for your brother's entertainment."

"But I was trying to walk faster like you told me to—"

"No excuses, young lady! I'm tired of dealing with your lazy butt! I don't think you're trying hard enough… Wait, are you even trying at all?"

"_Yes! _I _am!_" Amy said, trying her best to control her tone.

"Well try HARDER." Beatrice said, shoving Amy in front of her. Amy stumbled, trying her best to walk at a reasonable pace. Soon, Beatrice was in front of her again though, and her arms were seriously beginning to ache.

As soon as they got home, Amy dropped all the bags, walking over to the couch with a newspaper in her hand, getting ready to relax. She didn't even get a chance to sit down as Beatrice pulled her away from the couch, over to the kitchen, placing her in front of the stove. "Soup. NOW." Amy sighed but nodded, taking the vegetables out of the bags.

"Be sure to wash them!"

"Yes stepmother."

"Oh, and make me some coffee, nice and strong!"

"Yes stepmother."

"…Be sure to unload the rest of the groceries, also!"

"Got it."

Amy sighed again in annoyance, unloading the rest of the groceries. She carelessly stuffed all of the canned fruits in the cabinets, but immediately started sorting them out as she remembered her unpleasant encounter with Beatrice the last time she did that. When everything was in place, Amy started preparing the stew.

Beatrice picked up the newspaper Amy had left on the couch, skimming over it. "Hmmph, even the news this girl reads is trash…" She rolled her eyes, flipping through the pages. "Boring, boring bor—whoa!" Beatrice shook her head as if she'd seen a ghost. She stared at the paper for a second, reading that paragraph over and over.

_Vikram, Isabel, Ian and Natalie Kabra [formerly known as the 'Ruthless Cobras'], have finally decided to use their money and utmost authority to throw a ball for Boston. The centric of this exciting event will take place in their dazzling manor, but the entirety of it extends all the way to the market. Rumor has it Prince Ian and Princess Natalie will be looking for that lucky guy/gal to dance with! And if you're lucky, you might be the next king/queen of Boston, if you play your cards right anyway._

Beatrice gasped, instantaneously looking over at Dan. "Daniel, come here."

Dan nearly ran over to his stepmother. He knew that whenever she called him Dan, the situation she was in was serious. "Look at this girl, do you know who she is?" Beatrice pointed at Natalie, an attractive dark-haired girl next to her brother, who looked at least three years older than her.

"Yeah, that's Princess Natalie. Why?"

"Read this paragraph," Beatrice pointed to the paragraph beneath the picture.

"Okay…" Dan said reluctantly, turning his attention to the paragraph. Although it took him basically four seconds to read the entire paragraph, he kept rereading the last two sentences.

"So, what do you think?"

Dan remained silent before his cheeks were stained with crimson. Slowly, he turned over to Beatrice, "What exactly are you trying to… _imply?_"

"Well, you read it for yourself. Princess Natalie is single and ready to mingle!" Beatrice nudged him while Dan just looked back down at the paper. He had to admit, she was cute, and there WAS a possibility they could like each other, yet he was unsure.

"She's not bad to look at, but what if she isn't my type…?"

"Nonsense! She'll love you!"

"Yes, but what if she falls for someone else?"

"Like who?"

"Like—" Dan frowned, "I don't know! Maybe somebody better-looking than me." He shrugged.

"Dan, Dan, Dan… You obviously haven't been looking at yourself in the mirror enough! I think – no, I KNOW that Natalie will absolutely—"

"Stew's ready." Amy called from the kitchen.

Beatrice closed her mouth, smiling at Dan as they both walked over to the kitchen. "Bon appétit." Amy said expressionlessly, and a bit sourly. Beatrice sniffed the stew, nodded, and grabbed her bowl. She and Dan took large amounts of soup, pouring it into their bowls.

Amy stood there awkwardly, watching them eat greedily. Sometimes she questioned why her stepmother, a full-grown woman, had absolutely _**NO **_table manners. "Umm… St-Stepmother?"

"What?" she asked, wiping the soup dripping from her chin and shaking it onto the floor. She glanced down at it in disgust, "clean that up later. Now, what were you saying?"

Amy grimaced, but put a pleasant smile on her face quickly. "I was just wondering… If I could have some." She looked down at her feet, "Some stew, I mean."

"Well," Beatrice started.

"Only if that's okay with you, I wouldn't want to be rude." Amy added quickly.

Beatrice rolled her eyes, "No. But Dan, go get the keys to the cellar." She smiled as a look of horror flashed across Amy's face.

"Stepmother…"

"Dan and I have to talk about some very serious matters. We wouldn't like for anybody to 'overhear' them."

Dan smirked at Amy, grabbing her arm and the keys to the cellar. They walked downstairs, making a few twists and turns until they got to their destination. "Dan, please. You don't have to do this."

"I know I don't, but I want to. Don't worry, stepmother will bring you out when she wants you to clean up after our mess." He unlocked the door, shoving her inside of the dark and filthy basement. He sniffed it disdainfully, "maybe stepmother will get you to clean this room up too."

She sighed, "Dan… What on earth happened? We used to be close, basically inseparable, and then mom and dad died… Now you hate me. Why?"

Dan opened his mouth, then closed it. He didn't say anything, silently closing the door and leaving Amy there in the dark. He locked the door carefully before running back upstairs.

Beatrice smiled at him as he came up, "So Dan. Are you SURE you don't want to meet the dazzling Princess Natalie?"

"It would be nice, I guess. But I mean, let's be completely logical. They might choose Ian and his date instead of me and Natalie… If she ever fell for me."

Beatrice, who had been nibbling on a mushy carrot from her stew, paused. The kid HAD a point, and if this was so, then Dan wouldn't be king. All of a sudden, she threw her hands in the air. "BUT," she said, smiling excitedly, "if we could find another girl who could live with us and make Ian fall for her, then SHE could be queen and we could all be livin' large!" Beatrice grinned triumphantly.

Dan laughed nervously, "Um, yeah… We already have a girl that could do that."

"We do?" Beatrice asked, puzzled yet excited.

"Yep. But there's a problem."

"What is it?"

"That girl is Amy."

**(PLEASE READ):**

**Hmm… So what did you think? I think this is more of a prologue than a "first chapter," but I GUESS it's an okay beginning to this story. I really think this is a more proper and IC version of my old story "Once Upon a Time, the End!" **

**The actual story begins in the next chapter, but right now, I want to clear a few things up. I don't want this to be a direct copy of the actual story "Cinderella" itself, so I changed a few things and made it into a version appropriate for the 39 Clues. So no stepsisters, just Dan and Aunt Beatrice. I think it'll be better than adding two of Amy's cousins because that would make NO SENSE, well to me it wouldn't anyways. The next chapter will be focused with the story beginning to REALLY unfold [as in you'll start to see the "Cinderella" elements of it], and hopefully I can give out glimpses into Natalie and Ian's life. **

**Oh, and one more thing: The main couple is SUPPOSED to be Ian/Amy, but there will be a lot of Dan/Natalie. Hopefully you'll be able to see what I'm trying to pull of here. **

**Review, please! **


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary: **Amy, a solemn maiden who has to tend to her stepmother's and stepbrother's every whim, seizes an opportunity to go to a ball she had been "falsely" invited to. Being the eye of a handsome prince however, she gets more than she bargained for.

**Rating: **"K+"

**Setting: **AU, but still in Boston.

**Warning: **Cliché pairings, cliché storyline. 'Nuff said.

**Pairing: **Ian x Amy , Dan x Natalie

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the 39 Clues. Or Cinderella.

**XXX**

Dan bit his lip as an awkward silence dominated the entire room. Beatrice just stared at him in disbelief, seemingly frozen. She remained silent for a few more minutes before getting out of her seat. She went over and pointed to a picture of Amy on the wall. The young girl's face was stained with soot from cleaning up the chimney, and her red hair was tousled, yet she still managed to smile and look absolutely beautiful at that. "You mean _this _Amy?"

"Yep."

"Well… we don't even know if we've been invited to the ball, so we can't make any assumptions." With that, Beatrice sat down and continued to eat her soup silently. Dan sighed, nodding. They ate the rest of their meal in silence, not even glancing up to look at each other. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door.

"Dan…"

"I'm on it," Dan hopped up, running over to the door. He opened it without any hesitation and looked down around in confusion. He peeked around outside and at the very last second, he saw the feet of the mailman running off. "Hmm…" He thought suspiciously, coming back inside, glancing at the ground mindlessly, he nearly jumped when he saw three golden envelopes. Picking them up, he ran over to Beatrice and handed them to her excitedly.

"…What's this?"

Dan shrugged, a grin plastered on his face.

She squinted at him before looking down at the card, brushing her fingertips along the envelope, she slowly opened it. She gasped silently as she opened the card that was hidden inside the golden beauty. She motioned for Dan to come closer, and grins spread across their faces as they read the contents written in the neatest handwriting they had ever seen.

"An invitation to the ball…" Beatrice whispered, unable to see anything else at the moment. They both stared at the card for a few more minutes before Beatrice got out of her seat and they both started bouncing out of joy. "WOO-HOO! WE'RE IN!" They continued to celebrate and laugh for a few minutes, then Beatrice told him to get Amy out and clean up their mess.

His arm around hers as they made their way upstairs, Amy was ready to ask him why he looked so happy. He smirked at Beatrice who gave him the 'thumbs-up' sign. Amy then averted her attention to the envelopes, "What are those?" Beatrice immediately hid them and glared at her.

"None of your business now clean this mess up." She snapped, walking away. Amy ignored her though and walked over, "…Are-are those invitations to the ball?" She asked shyly.

Beatrice opened her mouth then closed it. "…Wait," she had suspicious look on her face now. "How do you know about the ball?"

"W-Well… I-I…" She blushed, looking to the ground. While Dan and Beatrice had been eating, she had been looking out the window… and saw someone so… so…

_I sighed, letting my head gently hit the stone wall, I regretted it though. "Ow!" I rubbed my head, pouting, looking around, I found a towel near the fire I was warming myself up to. Rubbing it against my head carefully, I made sure there wasn't any blood oozing out of my head._

_There wasn't any, whew._

_All of a sudden there were a bunch of fangirlish screams, looking outside through our tattered window, I nearly fell over. Outside, was the most handsome, mysterious-looking, and spine-chilling man I had ever seen. He obviously was Ian Kabra, son of Vikram and Isabel Kabra. Next to him was his counterpart, Natalie. She too was very attractive, and her fashion sense was absolutely gorgeous, noting that made me feel slightly jealous. I wasn't as interested in _her _as I was with _him. _His perfect tan skin, his dark hair, he look absolutely stunning. _

_What I was more curious about, was if Dan and Stepmother saw them. They must've, and if they didn't—_

_My thoughts were cut off unfortunately as I saw Dan come in and motion for me to come out. "Stepmother wants you to clean up our meal. Come on." Reluctantly walking towards him, I dropped the towel, glancing at the window longingly as Dan took my hand._

Amy sighed as her flashback of the handsome prince ended. "I… Err… Well, you see, they announced it outside."

"Who are 'THEY'?" Beatrice snapped angrily, only calming down when Dan put a hand on her shoulder.

"The prince and princess." Amy said quietly, looking away.

Beatrice stared at her for a few minutes before glancing outside, not wanting to look at Amy as she told her something she didn't really need to know. "Well, it might be convenient for me to tell you that Dan and I were discussing some very important matters. Dan will try to 'woo' Princess Natalie Kabra to become the king of Boston, but if he doesn't succeed…" She left her sentence unfinished.

Amy smiled, "So, if Dan can't win Natalie; you thought that Prince Ian and I could…"

Crimson kissed her cheeks and she looked away lousily. Beatrice growled though, there was no way she was going to let Amy go to the ball! "I wasn't thinking about that at ALL!" Beatrice ran to her room, coming out with her best dress in her hand. "Before I was _rudely _interrupted, I was GOING to say that I myself was going to try and 'woo' Prince Ian."

Amy and Dan's jaws dropped. "YOU!"

Dan glanced at Amy, who looked as if she were about to faint. Beatrice smirked proudly, putting her dress away. "When is the ball anyway?" Amy asked.

"Tomorrow night, not that it's any of your concern."

"_TOMORROW NIGHT?" _Dan cried.

"Yep! We're going to need to get you all handsome to meet Natalie Kabra." She winked at him. Dan blushed and Beatrice laughed. "Okay Amy, seriously, you need to clean this up. And next time, mind your own business and don't ask so many questions. I grow wary of them. Now clean!" She snapped. "Come on Dan, let's go." She nodded toward the door to her room, "we need to prepare." Beatrice walked off, a devilish smile on her face.

Amy pouted and started cleaning up the soup. She glanced at Dan, who was still there, looking at her. "…What?"

Dan walked over to her, "Okay, is it just me, or is that a totally CRAZY idea?"

"What?"

"Stepmother and IAN?"

"Oh, that." Amy shrugged, not wanting to talk bad about stepmother. "I… I don't know."

Dan rolled his eyes, scoffing. "It's gross and we both know it. Admit it, you totally dig him, and the thought of someone as vile as stepmother and him makes you want to puke."

Amy, who had been scrubbing stew pieces off the floor silently gasped, getting up and looking at Dan in disbelief. "W-What? You don't like stepmother?"

"Don't like her? I CAN'T STAND HER!" Dan yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

"Shh!" Amy said, glancing at the door to make sure she hadn't heard.

"Oh, sorry, heh… But yeah. I don't like her OR the idea of her and Ian as a couple." He smirked now, "and that's why I'm going to help you go to the ball."

**Whew! After days of brainstorming and editing, I now present the second chapter of my Cinderella re-write. I hope you like it so far, and there are many twists. I'm going to be doing a lot of research for the next chapter, which will be focused on Ian and Natalie Kabra's lives. I've already started on part of it in my journal, can't wait to type it. **

**Thanks for reading and please review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary: **Amy, a solemn maiden who has to tend to her stepmother's and stepbrother's every whim, seizes an opportunity to go to a ball she had been "falsely" invited to. Being the eye of a handsome prince however, she gets more than she bargained for.

**Rating: **"K+"

**Setting: **AU, but still in Boston.

**Warning: **Cliché pairings, cliché storyline. 'Nuff said.

**Pairing: **Ian x Amy , Dan x Natalie

**Disclaimer: **I do not own the 39 Clues. Or Cinderella.

**XXX**

That next day, Beatrice and Dan had gone to a salon to get their hair done. If Beatrice hadn't been so focused on getting him and Natalie together – maybe he would've been intrigued at the fact he was going to get his hair done in a place filled with so many women. Amy stayed home, she had to perfect Beatrice's dress and Dan's suit – fixing any rips, wrinkles, loose buttons, or 'non functioning zippers.' After that, she had some free time on her hands, and since Beatrice and Dan weren't going to be home for the next two hours – she decided the time could be used on making her _own _dress for the ball.

Amy was a smart girl, and she knew that Beatrice had been spilling out her evil little plan to Dan. Otherwise, Amy would've been pulled along too, Beatrice never missed an opportunity to make her put some elbow grease on something Beatrice was too lazy to do. Amy was grateful that she hadn't gone for that reason, and she was even happier her brother was going to help her. They had always had such a great connection, sibling telepathy even. Beatrice had never been a fan of this, so in a lame attempt to break up the blood relation – which was quite impossible – she called Amy and Dan 'stepbrothers and stepsisters.' In truth, Beatrice was their aunt, but she preferred to be called 'mother' it gave her a feeling of dominance.

Amy had been halfway done with the dress when Beatrice and Dan got home. She gasped, running down to the cellar to open it – then she remembered – Beatrice had the key. She couldn't hide the dress anywhere, Beatrice would find it. She sighed and braced herself for impact. Dan came into the house first, his hair gelled up. For once, Beatrice was carrying all her shopping bags. Amy already knew what was in them – jewelry and make-up. Beatrice would never entrust her with something Beatrice would apply to her face. Yet ironically – ninety percent of the time, Amy did her make-up.

"Dan!" Amy said, panicking.

"What?" He asked.

"The dress! I made a dress! It's not finished yet, but I can't let Beatrice see it!"

Dan's eyes widened. "Why on earth would you do that!"

"Because, you said you were going to help me get to the ball so I thought if I made a dress it would help and now I don't know where to hide it and –"

"BUT AMY." Dan said, cutting her off, "I already _bought _you a dress."

Amy opened her mouth, but instead of saying actual words, a gasp came out. "You… what? Why? How? Didn't Beatrice, I-I mean stepmother, notice?"

"Oh, she noticed. She was all suspicious and interrogated me. I told her the dress was for Natalie as a gift. But we all know that's a load of –"

"Oh, Dan!" Amy said, giving her brother a squeeze. "Thank you so much!"

Dan squirmed, unable to breathe under her sister's bear hug. "Yeah, okay, please let go of me until I die."

Amy rolled her eyes, smiling. Her smile soon faded as she saw Beatrice coming back to the house with the last bag of makeup and jewelry.

"The dress I made! What are we going to do?" She was panicking. _Again. _

Dan bit his lip, thinking for a second. Then, he grabbed the dress, and threw it out the window. Amy frowned, but nodded, "Thanks."

"No prob." He said, smirking.

Beatrice, panting, ran up to the two youngsters with some nail polish. "Amy, the ball is in three hours. Got that? That's one hundred and eighty minutes to apply makeup, jewelry, fit dresses, and suits – and put on more makeup!"

"Didn't you guys try on your outfits last night?" Amy said; disliking the idea she would have to help them with their outfits.

Beatrice glared. "Don't even try to get sassy with me, young lady! I didn't have you perfect the dresses for no reason! We have to try on the REVISED versions now, and if they aren't perfect, we'll have you sew them again… _While we're wearing them._"

Amy's eyes widened at the horrific thought. "O-okay then."

Beatrice smiled at Dan, who gave a fake smile back.

"Well then, let's get started."

Beatrice led Dan and Amy up to her room. It reeked of perfume and breath mints, and clothes were sloppily placed everywhere. Beatrice didn't like Amy coming up to her room, so it was self-explanatory as to why the room was so messy. Beatrice stopped abruptly, right before the door of her closet, causing Dan and Amy to bump into each other.

"Here it is, my closet." She said breathlessly.

She opened it immediately and dragged them in there, relentlessly. The small space was filled with dresses of all sorts, they were all absolutely ostentatious, revealing, things a middle-aged women should NOT wear.

"Ah, here it is." Beatrice said, picking up a large, pink and white strapless dress. The top was shaped to fit her bosom, and the bottom was large and puffy, obviously to cover up her hideous figure. Bad eating habits and lack of exercise can really stab you in the back sometimes.

She grabbed Dan's suit, which was neatly folded on one of her shelves, then pushed the both of them out. "Okay, I'll get dressed, Amy, you make sure I look gorgeous in my dress. Dan, while I pose for Amy, you get dressed."

Dan grimaced, leaning over to Amy, "That sounded so wrong." He whispered.

She nodded vigorously while Beatrice shut the closet door and got dressed.

"It's going to take her a while to get into that dress." Amy said, "How about you show me mine?"

Dan smiled, running over to Beatrice's bags and leafing through the contents. He finally found it, and pulled it out. Amy's heart skipped a beat, it was…

_Gorgeous. _

Something about it made her feel really awkward though. It was just the right shade of blue, there were tiny sequins on it, but it was too… _revealing. _Maybe that was the way they made dresses these days, but the dress ended so abruptly, it put Victoria's Secret panties to shame. Well, not really, but it wasn't something Amy would wear.

The dress was actually pretty decent, she just wasn't one to show off her body though. She grabbed it and looked at it. "I wonder what Beatrice was thinking when you said this was for Natalie."

Dan looked away, embarrassed. The straps were so tiny you could barely tell they were actually there.

"Shut up." He said softly while Amy just laughed.

She quietly put the dress away, "Stepmother should be done by now." She said, grabbing Dan's arm and pulling him toward the closet door.

Amy had been right, as soon as they got back to their spots; Beatrice strutted out in her dress, striking a pose.

Dan bit his lip, trying not to laugh. "Well, you know what to do Amy." He said teasingly, running into the closet and shutting the door.

Beatrice smiled, fluttering her eyes. "My eyes will look much more beautiful as soon as _you _put on the eye shadow."

She then put her arm behind her head like all of those models did, as if she was posing for a photo.

"Sexy, right?" She asked. "I need to look glamorous," she then put one arm out, curling her fingers as if she were a cat, "for Prince Ian. I'll be absolutely irresistible."

She turned around, sticking her rear end out, "Who wouldn't want a piece of this."

"_Anyone with eyes._" Amy said in a tone that only she could hear, just about ready to hurl.

"Did you say something?" Beatrice said turning back around and cupping her hands around her face with a grin.

Amy shook her head, "Nope, nothing. Nada, zilch, nil."

Dan eventually came out in his suit, an emotionless look on his face.

"Oh Dan, you look like a little cutie!" Beatrice said, fixing his hair and buttoning up the parts of his outfit he didn't bother checking.

For the next half hour, Amy got them all fancied up for the ball. They had taken off their outfits to wash up, and then put them on AGAIN – and made Amy go through the process of making sure they looked perfect… Again. This included both Beatrice and Dan making ridiculous poses while Amy examined them. The process was strenuous, but Amy new that Dan was probably feeling a whole lot worse, which was her motivation to continue.

"Oh, I'm certain the ball will be absolutely divine." Beatrice swooned while Amy put her eye shadow onto her face.

Beatrice closed her eyes while Amy added powder to some parts of her face. The powder was named '_Timeless,_' allegedly the same brand Isabella used on her face. It was supposed to make women look younger. But Amy wasn't putting it on a woman – she was putting it on Beatrice.

"What if we both fail to win Ian and Natalie's affections, then what?" Dan asked.

"Oh, nonsense!" Beatrice said, puckering her lips while Amy applied her cherry red lipstick.

"I am pretty sure mother will look absolutely wonderful for Ian." Amy winked, holding Beatrice's chin for support while she swirled the lipstick around her lips.

"Put some lip gloss over it to give it a shine." Beatrice said while Amy rummaged through the shopping bags.

"Hurry it up! We have less than two hours until the ball begins!"

Amy gritted her teeth while she got the lip gloss. "Yes mother."

She came back and glanced at Dan. "If Ian does happen to fall for a young lady, maybe we can persuade her to join our family. Just as long as it's nobody who is particularly part of another Royal Family. Although we have many enemies surrounding us, so the thought of getting the king and queen's approval would be very unlikely."

"Are you implying that I'm not _young_?" Beatrice said.

Amy's eyes widened. _Crud._

"No! I wasn't implying that at all, I just meant that, well…Uh…" She looked down, twiddling with her fingers.

"Don't play finger games with me! It's time for my manicure and pedicure! First, clean my nails, and tell me what you meant."

Amy got a small bowl of water for Beatrice to dip her fingers in.

"I didn't mean to offend you, mother. But you and Ian have such a large age gap, one of about – twenty years! And, with all due respect, I don't think you truly love him. Isn't love about setting aside differences, and accepting somebody for who they truly are? Ian wouldn't be satisfied in a relationship like that."

Beatrice frowned while Amy scrubbed her fingers. "But I will look so beautiful! It doesn't matter, I can just pretend to love him. Then we will get married, and I'll be rich."

Amy scraped the outer layer of her nails off with a frown on her face. "And then, when his time comes, you two will be the king and queen. That's quite a big title to carry on, with authority, comes responsibility. What will you do for Boston that makes you worthy of being their ruler? What if they don't like the changes you make? I've seen it all before – they get assassinated because people don't like what they've done to society. Ian might as well just break off the entire relationship if –"

"SHUT UP!" Beatrice's voice boomed throughout the entire house. Amy silently gasped in horror as Beatrice stood up to her full height. "Listen young lady, I don't care HOW jealous you are of the fact that Ian is going to marry _me _instead of _you_, but I don't want to hear another peep of this nonsense! I forbid you to talk for the rest of the time. Now paint my nails and keep your big mouth SHUT."

Dan looked at Amy worriedly. "That's a little harsh isn't it –"

"Oh can it, you stupid ninja." Beatrice muttered grumpily.

Dan glared and said a few things about her under his breath.

Amy simply carried on stepmother's orders without upsetting her. That was just the way things went.

Amy had finished readying them up for the ball just in time.

"Well, time for us to be off!" Beatrice said, coated in makeup and jewelry.

Dan watched her walk off into – to his surprise – a carriage she had rented exclusively for them.

"This woman is going all out, I swear." He said. "Anyways, I have your invitation under the placemat. Go ahead and get ready, then head to the ball ASAP. It's going to be the highlight of Boston, you can't miss it. And don't worry about drawing attention. There's nothing wrong with being fashionably late."

With that, he left.

Amy sighed, grabbing her dress and rushing up to Beatrice's room to borrow some of her makeup. Poor Beatrice, she forgot to lock Amy up into the cellar.

Oh well.

**School is dominating. Although I had a few months at the end of the school year – and the entire summer vacation to type of this bad boy, I wasn't necessarily procrastinating… I was prioritizing. And Fanfiction is completely optional, but since writing is my passion, I decided to finally update. Hope you enjoyed the tiny tints of humor, and no I am not going to change the rating to T for all you whiny readers. Just man up and accept the certain scenes and descriptions in this chapter.**


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